Palestinian suspect in West Bank stabbing attack turns himself in
Assailant had fled scene, prompting manhunt, after terror attack; meanwhile, stabber dies after Jerusalem attack last week
A Palestinian suspected of stabbing a man in the face south of Jerusalem turned himself in to Israeli authorities Tuesday evening.
Border Police said the alleged assailant surrendered himself to officers at the Rachel checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
The man, in his 20s and from the nearby village Dheisheh, was taken for interrogation where Border Police said they will “ascertain with certainty” the motives of the attacker.
Authorities said that the nature of the attack had initially been unclear, but that the growing conclusion was that it was a nationalistically motivated terror attack.
The incident occurred near the bypass tunnel next to the Palestinian town of Beit Jala, northwest of Bethlehem.
Eyewitnesses said the Israeli man was attacked when he walked out of a store in the area, according to one of the medics who treated the victim.
Video footage from the scene showed the man exiting the shop and approaching his car before the Palestinian runs up behind him and begins stabbing him.
The 30-year-old victim was treated on the scene by medics from the Magen David Adom ambulance service and the Israel Defense Forces, who worked to stop the bleeding and bandage his wounds.
He was then transported to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem where he was subsequently released.
Attacker dies week after Armon Hanatziv stabbing
Also Tuesday, a Shaare Zedek Medical Center spokesman said that the Palestinian assailant who injured four officers in a stabbing attack last week at a police station in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood had succumbed to his wounds.
Abdul Rahman Abu Jamal, 17, from Jabel Mukaber, had been shot and seriously injured by Israeli forces after arrived at the entrance to the police station Wednesday and attacking and lightly injuring three officers.
During the scuffle a fourth officer was lightly hurt by shrapnel as others shot at the attacker.
The Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, some of which is in former no-man’s land between East and West Jerusalem, has been the scene of several attacks in past years, including during a wave of stabbings in 2015 and 2016.
AFP contributed to this report.
